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Sunday, July 1, 2012

From Bean Pot to My Belly!

From Bean Pot to My Belly! I love my bean pot & if I can convert a recipe, I do it! Tonight was an ole standby - Taco Soup - in a bean pot - In the microwave (the stove was full of canning pots). Taco Soup can be made up just like your fav recipe & placed into the bean pot. Microwave on high for about 25 min. Yes, it takes up your microwave, but your house won't get hot from the stove. Plus you need to be cleaning up peaches for dessert! My Taco Soup Recipe:1 can crushed or diced tomatos (I don't like mater chunks, so I will process them till smooth)1 can kidney beans, undrained1 can whole kernal corn, undrained4 scoops of my DIY taco seasoning (Pinterest Link here) 1 lb(ish) browned hamburger (ask me about browning hamburger in bean pot)3 or 4 Pods of precooked & frozen black beans (ask me about how much I love my Beaba Multipurpose Freezer trays aka PODS) Mix all in bean pot, lid on, microwave 25 min. This will be HOT HOT HOT, so please use caution when removing from microwave & lifting off lid & handling your bean pot.... Or you could cook it in a pot on the stove - but where is the fun in that... Dinner was just so yummy, I had to add in some details. So, back to what I started posting about... Where does the weekend go?? My weeks are running together. The garden on top of my other motherly duties are stacking up. I have so many peaches that need to be worked up. Beans are canned on the counter, ready for the pantry. I want another picking of blackberries to make my newest fav dish -Blueberry Peach Crisp. This recipe is not only wonderful, but I am going to make it freezer ready & bean pot converted. My day started when I slept in till 6am - headed to the garden for green beans. I wasn't able to pick yesterday as I had an all day scrapbooking - card making - crafting - have a great day w/ the ladies day. Yesterday, Cooper took the kids to the garden & was able to pick zucchinis, squash & my first 2 Roma tomatoes. So, off to pick green beans. My in laws stopped by the garden & I sweet talked my way into breakfast w/ the fam at Bob Evans. Cooper had just got the kids up, so off we went. I had priorities today - Magic Mike movie w/ Mindy & Michelle, then back home to get some veggies processed. Before I left for the movie I helped Cooper who was snapping beans. Gracie is a WONDERFUL bean snapper - as long as you give her one at a time. We ended up with 8 qts of canned green beans. He took the kids to Sam's to give me some time to finish the last batch of beans & I even got a batch of blackberry jam finished just as they walked back in the door. I put some blackberries on a cookie sheet to flash freeze them. I will put them into a ziploc bag so I can use them individually later. I gave Cooper a question - a tough question - a REALLY tough question - what kind of pie or dessert do you want? Cobbler, pie? Peach, blackberry? He couldn't answer, he was torn, almost to tears (not really). I had the answer in my head - PINTEREST! I searched peach blackberry & found first up - Blackberry Peach Crisp from IowaGirls blog. I am definitely making this again - so yummy! As I am enjoying this little bit of heaven - alone (Cooper wanted to get out of the house after kids are in bed), watching Food Network, and realize I can make this in the bean pot in the microwave, AND even smarter, I can make this into a freezer meal! So Here It Goes - Recipe:

Ingredients (serves 6)

5 small-medium sized peaches

1 small carton of blackberries

1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup cold butter

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash peaches, then score an “x” into the bottom with a knife. Gently place the peaches into a big pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and let cool before sliding off the peel with your fingers. Cut peaches into 1/2″ pieces then add to a big bowl with the blackberries.

In a small bowl, mix together remaining flour, brown sugar, old fashioned oats and cold butter with your hands until butter is the size of peas. Top fruit with crisp mixture and bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until crisp is golden brown

Freezer Version - I will be putting this together tomorrow!

Mix up the fruit w/ fruit ingredients. Toss in some fresh fruit powder - such as Fruit Fresh, to keep peaches from turning brown. Place into quart ziploc, smoosh out air. Mix up the crisp ingredients, place into gallon size bag. Place fruit ziploc into gal ziplog. Write prep instructions & baking instructions on bag. Day of, thaw out fruit & place into baking dish & bake.

You will love this recipe!!

I have had requests for my jam recipes - my best blackberry or raspberry jam recipe comes from an oldish cookbook called The Farmhouse Cookbook circa 1973 by Yvonne Tarr. It even has how to butcher your meat!

Blackberry or Raspberry Jam

3 qts blackberries (to yield 6 c crushed blackberries)

1 pkg powdered pectin

8 1/2 c sugar (basically your 4 lb bag from Aldi's!)

To prepare fruit - select fully ripe berries. Sort & wash. Remove any stems or caps. Crush berries (NINJA). If they are seedy, run thru a sieve or food mill.

To make jam - Measure crushed berries into a kettle. Add the pectin & stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface.

Add the sugar, continue stirring, and heat again to a full boiling boil. Boil hard for 1 min, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim.

Fill & seal containers.

CANNING - get the Ball Blue Book or one similar. It has the basic instructions & need to knows about canning. Each fruit or veggie has different requirements when you are canning. It is alot of knowledge to absorb, but so easy once you understand the canning concepts.